Marco Rubio set to testify after alleged 'foreign agent' activities
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is bracing for a highly public political storm as his longtime Florida confidant prepares to stand trial as an accused foreign agent.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles may even be roped into the legal proceedings.
David Rivera, who rose through the ranks of Florida politics alongside Marco Rubio, is set to face a judge in a case that has officially named the Secretary of State as a witness, Vanity Fair reports.
The two men share a long history in the Sunshine State - during their early political careers, they were so close that they famously bought a home together in Tallahassee.
Covert conduit
Rivera has been a persistent headache for Rubio over the years, but as the explosive trial draws closer, the controversy surrounding his former housemate now threatens to spill into the Trump White House.
For years, Rivera was one of South Florida's most aggressive anti-Castro firebrands, building a career on fierce rhetoric against leftist regimes - until a $50 million contract with the US subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company came to light.
The man who made his name attacking socialist dictatorships had, it appears, been allegedly simultaneously profiting from one.
The government alleges Rivera's mission was twofold: persuade the first Trump administration to ease its crushing sanctions on the Nicolás Maduro regime, and clear the way for ExxonMobil to restart operations in Venezuela.
According to the indictment, Rivera acted as a covert conduit between the socialist regime and Washington - all while failing to register as a foreign agent.
Rubio on the stand
Federal authorities have already taken $24 million and five properties belonging to the former congressman and his reported partner.
As he prepares to face the first of two criminal trials slated to begin later this month, the years-long legal battle has dragged a 'who's who' of Republican power players into the proceedings.
The witness list and court documents read like a directory of the Trump inner circle.
High-profile figures, including GOP Representative Pete Sessions, former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, and top lobbyist Brian Ballard have all been pulled into the case.
Trenches and Tallahassee:
The bond between Rubio and Rivera stretches back to the 1990s, when the pair rose through the political ranks as a formidable team.
While Rubio was often cast as the 'golden child' of the movement, biographers have described Rivera as the 'feared' and 'consummate behind-the-scenes strategist' who helped navigate their climb to power.
Now, that decades-old alliance is set to be tested under the pressure of a federal courtroom.
Rubio stuck with his friend despite the scandals he had experienced during his lifetime.
Benefit of the doubt
'He's a friend, and I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt,' Rubio said back in 2012. 'Maybe it's acceptable here—it isn't to me—to turn your back on friends when they're going through a difficult time, no matter…what they may have done or not done.'
Rivera's attorneys believe that Rubio will once again come to his defense.
'Rubio will show that Rivera was actually trying to 'find ways to remove Maduro from power,' Defense counsel Edward Shohat told Vanity Fair. 'We issued a subpoena for Rubio because we believe Rubio will materially benefit the defense.'
The prosecution has officially called Rubio as a witness, along with 28 others.
The State Department did not immediately respond in response to this story, as well as Rubio's role in it.
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